Top 3 Post-Workout Meals for Vegans

Hello loves! Spring has sprung all around the country I hear, and people are starting to get serious about that “beach body”, or at least being able to fit in to that cute summer dress. My Sugar Detox is going well, I’m surprised how little cravings I’ve had. First week is behind and 3 more to go. I CAN DO THIS! It’s just sugar!

Today I have a guest post for you from Monica. If you’re like me, after working out you’re starving and can’t wait to eat. I go through all the cabinets in the kitchen while waiting for the proper meal to cook (usually lunch because my classes are from 10.30am-11.30am) and snack like a crazy. Almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, hummus with gluten-free crackers, fruit and almond butter. Anything healthy goes. Here are Monica’s top 3 post-workout meals for vegans.

Top 3 Post-Workout Meals for Vegans

If you’re serious about transforming your body and improving your health in the gym, you’re going to have to do a lot more than just lifting weights. Nutrition is one of the key factors that you have to take into consideration when planning a workout, because no matter how much work you put in at the gym, it’s all going to be for nothing if you don’t give your body a chance to recover after the workout.

This is where nutrition plays a key role. After a strenuous workout, your body begins a very complicated and taxing process of regenerating itself and recovering the energy that you lost. As human beings, we require energy for every process that happens in our organism: breathing, thinking, moving around, even keeping our eyes open. You even burn a certain amount of calories while you sleep, because your body has to keep up with a lot of these processes.

All of this energy has to come from somewhere, and after a stressful workout it should come from a balanced, healthy meal that has all the nutrients that your body needs in order to make a fast recovery and prepare itself for tomorrow’s workout. The hour after the workout itself is most critical, as studies have shown that eating the right combination of foods during this “window of opportunity” can double your insulin response, and this ends up storing more of that essential glycogen that your muscles need to recover.

Now, a common misconception in the world of fitness is that vegans have a much tougher time in planning proper post-workout nutrition because plant-based foods don’t have enough protein, but in all honesty, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Believe it or not, there is more than enough protein in all kinds of vegan foods, as well as all the other nutrients that your body needs to recover efficiently.

Today, I want to share with you some ideas about easy to make post-workout snacks that you can use to kick start your body’s regeneration process and replenish all the energy you lost during your intense workout.

Fruit & Nut Smoothie

The right combination of proteins and carbohydrates in the hour after your workout is crucial to engage that initial glycogen production and get your body into recovery as fast as possible, and fortunately you can find both of these in food types that are completely vegan. Fruits such as apples, oranges and bananas are usually packed full with natural sugar which is a great energy source, and various nuts, especially walnuts contain all the protein that your organism needs to actually rebuild your muscles.

Therefore all you have to do is take these two, put them in a blender, maybe add some cinnamon or brown sugar and you have got yourself a super healthy, nutritious smoothie that you can even take with you and eat it right after you’re done with your workout.

Quinoa with Marinated Tofu

Tofu is made from soymilk and is therefore a great vegan replacement for all your protein needs. I find that marinated tofu drastically improves the taste which can otherwise be a tad bland, and it retains all the nutrients that are naturally present in it.

Quinoa, on the other hand, is high in all sorts of essential micronutrients like fiber, magnesium, potassium and even iron, and even some extra protein, plus it goes great with any kind of tofu. The high fiber content will kickstart your metabolism and generally speed up your recovery, so you’re ready to go again the very next day.

Banana Ice Cream

One of the hardest things to quit when I was transitioning to a healthy diet was definitely ice cream. Fortunately, for all us ice cream lovers there’s a pretty nice substitute that you can have on a regular basis, and it’s a great choice for after for workout, as well.

And the best part is, there’s only one ingredient: bananas. All you have to do is put a couple of bananas in the freezer, wait a few hours and then use a blender to make a nice, ice cream-like paste that you can eat right away. Feel free to add some cinnamon or cocoa to the mix if you want for extra flavor, but I find that it tastes awesome even without any additional ingredients.

Monica Nichols is one of the most promising writers at www.diet.st, and apart from writing her main passion in life is designing clothes. In her free time, she likes listening to jazz and spending time with her boyfriend in their hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.